1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to pictorial tour process(es) and applications thereof. In comparably general terms, the invention relates to a product comprising a pictorial tour which can be reckoned as still and/or motion pictures as well as an optional accompanying audio track (eg., inclusion of the audio track is preferred).
The invention includes the provision of diverse venues for the viewing (eg., playback) of such pictorial tours for amusement, teaching, coaching and training. Inventive aspects hereof include the provision of such a venue(s) as one or more wide area servers (eg., web servers on the Internet) which enable relatively wide area network-like dissemination and/or distribution of a given pictorial tour to diverse remote clients at diverse remote locations. A complimentary inventive aspect hereof includes the provision of relatively local area servers which enable the viewing of a given pictorial tour in a relatively specific locality which likely is proximately where the given pictorial tour was recorded. An example of this is the "electronic caddy" use of a golf course pictorial tour in accordance with the invention.
Other aspects of the invention relate to the production of the pictorial tour product. Processes are described which allow acquisition of views both on the ground and also at some given elevation above the ground. Such diverse vantage points are desired to provide such substantive content with the views as to support various instructional, educational, and/or entertainment enterprises and so on, which enterprises shall offer the pictorial tours as a lead or way-of-attracting a given consumer group into giving attention to the offerings of the enterprise. Another aspect of the invention relates to the structure of such enterprises which incorporate the advantages of the inventive pictorial tours.
A number of additional features and objects will be apparent in connection with the following discussion of preferred embodiments and examples.
2. Prior Art
Some understanding of the context of the invention can be reckoned in part by making an analogy to FM radio. Briefly stated, in FM radio, competing radio stations in a given listening area compete with each other for audience. Music-playing FM radio stations appear to establish a niche for themselves by staking their distinctiveness on a given music format. In doing so, such radio stations often advertise this fact on their broadcast. And so, perhaps some of us have encountered in the past this kind of a radio advertisement:--eg., `. . . rival radio-station X plays Music which is too hard, and rival radio-station Z plays music which is too soft, but we play music which is just right . . . .`
Furthermore, this kind of advertisement might include samples of music that is `too hard` and `too soft.`The music which is `too hard` might be represented by shrieking noisiness. The music which is `too soft` might be represented by elevator music. Immediately following those samples which the advertisement has sought to ridicule, the advertisement is likely to include a selection of music deemed (arbitrarily needless to say) to be `just right.`
Assuming arguendo that many of us are familiar with FM radio advertisements of that kind (if not, the foregoing example is simple enough), the point of the analogy is this. Competing FM radio stations commonly seek to establish a niche for themselves in their market by their music formats. They choose and/or cultivate their niche by design. They advertise their niche on their broadcasts. They research who their audience is and what kinds of songs keeps their audience tuned in. They attract paying-sponsors based not just on size but more significantly the composition of the audience that such a niche or music format evidently appeals to.
To get back to how this relates to the invention, on the Internet nowadays there is getting to be a crowded field of competitors with websites on golf and golf courses. Many of these compete directly with one another for audience. Among these golf websites, one group can be characterized as the home sites for individual golf courses. Typically, a golf-course home site posts various pictures of its course, facilities and grounds. The pictures are typically beauty shots of the landscape or certain monster holes.
Much else found on the prior art golf websites is sales and hype. The course-owned websites naturally concentrate on hyping their courses. To be fair, they do include views of stunning scenery. In other ways, the advertising is more overt. Enticements and hype is included meant to work emotional appeals on the audience. The hoped for result might have the audience conjuring up fantastical expectations. But most people recognize hype and sales-puffing as such. It triggers alarms. It repels people in some cases, in others it has the audience wary that sales-puffing and hype are not truly reliable sources of unbiased information.
There are also golf channels which run programs--not necessarily free of sales-puffing and hype--but instead can characterized by their "talk" format. A lengthy program might have a host talking on and demonstrating such a single-minded matter as, for example, the non-flat clubfaces on drivers. Such a program might actually be an extended advertisement for the given driver, the sponsor, or the host's golf-lesson school. Other subjects for the golf channels are the PGA tour, and the unfolding of the action of a PGA tournament while it is underway.
None of the foregoing is preferable for the recreational player who wishes to research the shot-by-shot play of a given golf course for the sake of planning a visit or vacation. What is needed is an improvement which overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art and affords a pictorial tour website that allows web-users/recreational-level players to research the different venues on the website database with pictorial tours that are relatively concise and uncluttered by extraneous material.